“Good. If you pierce the diaphragm, when you pull the knife back out, don’t pull it out clean –twistit. Try toslashyour way out. Make it as vicious as you can.
“The muscles of the diaphragm keep a partial vacuum in the chest cavity, which is the only thing keeping the lungs inflated. You cut a big enough hole in the diaphragm, the chest cavity gets compromised, his lungs deflate, and your opponent will eventually die of asphyxiation. Even if you only deflate one lung,an injury of that magnitude will cut his effectiveness in half, making it that much easier to finish him off.”
Don Rosolini nodded, then said, “We should probably call an end to this and get the meeting started.”
He looked over at Massimo, who threw towels to both him and Lars.
“What the fuck isthisall about?” Adriano asked as both men toweled the sweat off their bodies.
“After fighting every single day to stay alive in San Vittore, I felt like I was going soft back home in the lap of luxury,” Don Rosolini explained. “So Lars is continuing my instruction in hand-to-hand combat.”
“You’re the Don,” Adriano said. “You’re not supposedto go into battle.”
“Sometimes the battle comes tous,”Don Rosolini replied. “I want to be ready if and when it does.”
Adriano tilted his head to the side as though to sayYou have a point.“Hey, Lars, you got some time to train me, too?”
“Get in line, bro,” Massimo said.
“Yeah,” Valentino agreed. “Thebackof the line.”
“What,bothof you?” Adriano asked in surprise.
Massimo snorted. “You think we’re gonna let Dariodo all the cool stuff?”
“Is itjustyou two?” Adriano asked, then added wryly, “I notice Niccolo and Roberto aren’t down here.”
“You couldn’t pry Roberto away from his spreadsheets with a crowbar,” Valentino joked. “And Niccolo says shit like, ‘I fight with mymind,not mybody.’”
Adriano grinned. “Sounds exactly like Nic.”
Lars said to Adriano, “I can schedule you for a couple hours next time you’re visiting from Florence. How’s that sound?”
“Awesome.”
“Alright, let’s get it on the calendar after the meeting.”
“Sounds good.”
Don Rosolini finished toweling off and extended his hand to the gunshot doctor. “Raffaelo. Good to see you.”
“Likewise,” Raffaelo said as they shook.
“Giorgio,” Don Rosolini greeted me.
“Don Rosolini,” I said respectfully.
“Why don’t you go on up to the parlor. I believe Niccolo’s already there.”
“See you soon,” Adriano said as he led me, Raffaelo, Valentino, and Massimo back upstairs.
10
Not only was Niccolo in the parlor, but so was his new wife, Sofia. They sat across from each other at a chessboard, halfway through a game.
Dante, the newcapoof Tuscany, was present as well, standing over by the wall.
I still didn’t trust him entirely.
